Deacon Blue’s 10th July visit to Scarborough Open Air Theatre, supported by The Lightning Seeds, brought joy and retrospection.
It’s an oft repeated refrain, but it’s easy to forget how many great songs are in Deacon Blue’s repertoire, particularly their late 80s-90s work at the height of their fame. They’re a band all about emotion and storytelling, in a grass-roots kind of way. They feel well suited to a town like Scarborough and a venue like the Open Air Theatre on a hot summer’s evening. And since they’re supported by an outfit as fun and memorable as The Lightning Seeds, a night fizzing with positivity is all but inevitable.
The Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie is given a warm welcome by the already voluminous crowds, looking quite relaxed sporting a pair of sunglasses and brandishing a cherry-red Gibson guitar. There’s a startling sea of people in those trademark rows of green plastic seats behind me, and the fans have aged gracefully with the bands – as one of many, I’m asked by two separate people if I am, in fact, Ian Broudie on a respite from the stage.
Their set is swift, but we’re treated to an entertaining greatest hits package including Marvellous, Change, Life of Riley, Lucky You, and ending with – was there ever any doubt? – Three Lions (“Anyone here like sport? They’re getting quite good, aren’t they…”) which sees the band send half a dozen giant inflatable footballs tumbling lazily into a delighted crowd.
Deacon Blue arrive confidently, the audience in now a very good mood indeed, and it’s somehow heartwarming to see Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh still up there on stage, doing their crowdpleasing thing. Ricky looks trim and easygoing in a plaid shirt and trousers, Lorraine joyfully pirouetting around the mic in a white pleated dress, their signature vocals always working as a pair, Ricky’s earthiness supplemented by Lorraine’s angelic echo.
They launch into Late ’88 from their new album The Great Western Road, a nostalgic look back at their early career (“I can’t recall why, but we seemed to do it all, and it all seemed so easy”), followed by a pair of better known hits with Queen of the New Year and Wages Day. The songs are clearly drawn, and full of personality. “He looks like his DVD,” I hear one fan gasp. Ricky even makes time to talk a bit about a Scarborough connection, referencing his childhood visits to Peasholm Park. Chocolate Girl lands particularly well. The band’s sound is full of melody, twinkling electric guitar lines dancing along to the punchy keyboard rhythm.
With the night drawing on (though the crowd aren’t conscious of that), we hear the likes of the classic Dignity (a personal favourite), Real Gone Kid and Fergus sings the Blues. The evening is an easy slide to their departure song, a cover of Burt Bacharach’s I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, the front-facing pair still strong after all these years.
The whole night, really, is a kind of joyful nostalgia, and a very satisfied gathering of people slowly make their way out of the venue with bellies-full smiles on their faces.
More awaits at TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
